%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1344364981055940100%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.%%[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_zelda_link_6202.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:350: Bow and Sword in accord]]

->''"Why are female soldiers always no-nonsense snipers? Says something about the writer, I think, if they perceive women as mostly poking holes in things from a very long distance away."''-->-- '''''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation''''' on ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps3''

The tendency to make [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the one female character]] a ranged fighter while her male partner/teammate fights up close. In fantasy settings, she's the archer or a SquishyWizard, and the burliest male character has a [[{{BFS}} giant melee weapon]]. In comic books, especially Creator/MarvelComics in the '60s and '70s, female characters were often given powers that were ranged or unconventional enough to let them stay back while their male teammates did the heavy hitting.

Part of this is due to cultural taboos against showing [[WouldntHitAGirl women getting hit]]. It may also have to do with the fact that a [[{{Stripperiffic}} skimpy costume]], which a lot of female characters get stuck with, looks [[ChainmailBikini more plausible]] on someone who isn't in melee. While {{Action Girl}}s have long since become commonplace these days, heroines are still more likely to have ranged powers than the guys. To some extent, physical reality is also reflected in that women tend to be smaller than men and have a more difficult time passing strength tests, and so would be better off with ranged weapons; in a case of TruthInTelevision, for exactly that reason the Soviet Red Army during World War II had divisions of female snipers, fighter pilots, machine gunners, and tank commanders, while still barring women from serving as regular infantry. However, this stops being sensible and turns into StayInTheKitchen when a particular woman meets or exceeds the minimum standards expected of men in close combat roles, but is denied the opportunity to do what she's good at merely because of her chromosomes. And in ancient or medieval settings, [[CriticalResearchFailure this makes even less sense]], as bows had to be given very heavy draw weights to be capable of killing through even cloth or leather armor, much less mail from a reasonable distance. On the other hand, swords often weighed less than 4 pounds (crossbows, on the other hand, don't rely on the wielder's muscle for their power, and can therefore be just as effective in the hands of a woman as a man). Two-handed melee weapons are even better suited for women -- a real two-handed sword doesn't weigh twice as much as a one-handed sword, but you do wield it with twice as many hands and with a lever arm three to four times as long for much greater power and leverage. (On a one-handed sword, your leverage is based on the distance between your index finger and little finger; for a two-hander, it's the space between your top index finger and your bottom little finger on a longer hilt.) Two-handed swords and polearms almost entirely negate a woman's disadvantages in strength and reach.

Together, [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal a Melee Man and a Missile Maid]] may form a BattleCouple. The classic pairing of a caster and a basher is SwordAndSorcerer. Occasionally mutates into the TwoGuysAndAGirl form of FighterMageThief.

[[folder:Advertising]]* A Tricon Global ad campaign from the late 1990s featured the Taco Bell Chihuahua, Colonel Sanders and a female Pizza Hut driver as ''Franchise/StarWars'' characters. They were besieged on all sides by a droid army. While the Taco Bell Chihuahua was completely unarmed and PlayedForLaughs, the Pizza Hut girl had a blaster pistol and Colonel Sanders bore a light saber.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]* From ''Manga/InuYasha'' we have Kagome on the bow shooting magic arrows, and the title character on the sword 'n claws, slashing stuff up. Justified in that she's an ordinary (aside from the spiritual powers she inherited via {{reincarnation}}), untrained human girl from the modern age, and he's a demon. And even after learning to fight in her own right, Kagome quite sensibly builds on natural talent for archery rather than trying to force herself to become a melee fighter. Also inverted with Sango and Miroku who fit SwordAndSorcerer. * ''Anime/MazingerZ'': [[TheHero Kouji]]'s [[HumongousMecha robot]]'s signature weapon are [[RocketPunch its fists]] (and in the manga he usually fights with punches and kicks, using Mazinger's weapons to finish the enemy off). [[ActionGirl Sayaka]]'s [[FemBot robot]]'s signature weapon are its [[ChestBlaster missiles]] (and her second robot is armed with missiles and [[EyeBeams optic beams]]). This pattern repeats in the sequels (''Anime/GreatMazinger'' and ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'').* [[BrotherSisterTeam Shannon and Raquel]] Casull in ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess''. Shannon is a swordsman, Raquel is a sorceress.* Played with in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'': between [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Subaru and Teana]], the tomboyish Subaru is a melee fighter and the more feminine Teana is a ranged shooter. Additionally, among Fate's adoptive children, Erio and Caro, Erio fights with a spear, while Caro primarily uses summon magic.* Inverted in ''Manga/OutlawStar.'' Of the four crew members who typically see combat, the two women (Aisha and Suzuku) are melee fighters while the men (Gene and Jim) fight with guns most of the time.* [[MasterSwordsman Yajiro]] and [[TheGunslinger Rushuna]] in ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}''.* In ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', Hansel uses an axe, and Gretel uses a really big gun. [[spoiler: Then again, we don't know what gender either of them actually is. They even switch roles, weapons included.]]* Inverted in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' with Negi as the ranged mage and Asuna as the martial artist/swordsman in front...initially. Even after Negi starts [[TookALevelInBadass taking levels in badass]] and starts fighting up-close, though, Asuna remains on the frontline. The rest of the non-{{muggles}} in Negi's all-female class are also mixed between melee fighters (Kuu Fei, Setsuna...), ranged support (Konoka, Kazumi...), and all-around badasses (Kaede and Mana, mainly).** Though this inversion is semi-justified in that the spirit of the trope is upheld--keeping the most "delicate" character out of the fray. [[KidHero Negi's]] [[WouldntHurtAChild youth]] evidently trumps Asuna's femininity. Or lack thereof.* Lina (Mage) and Gaurry (Swordsman) in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. Probable aversion, given that Lina is no slouch with a sword herself.* Inverted in ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'': Deunan is only a very average size woman, while her BattleCouple boyfriend Briareos is an 8 feet tall cyborg. Deunan is the far more hot headed of the two and always goes in first while Briareos covers her from the back.* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Tenten plays this straight with her enormous arsenal of ranged weapons, as does Temari with her fan. However, most of the other female characters avert this, particularly Sakura and Tsunade, who both pack a huge punch and both are seen getting hit (and getting up from said hits) multiple times.* Inverted in ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. The cyborgs, who are [[{{Cyborg}} body-modified]] [[TykeBomb little girls]] [[MadeOfIron are built for combat]], so the usual way using them is to use them to trash enemies up and front, while the handler (usually adult males) is stay behind for support. When the handler rushes front for whatever reasons, [[RuleOfDrama it usually doesn't end well.]]* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': Of the opening crew, Simon (drill), Kamina (katana), Yoko (rifle). When Yoko gets the controls of a robot, the Dayakaiser, it has a giant cannon on it; Gurren Lagann, by contrast, typically fights with [[ThisIsADrill a giant friggin' drill]], with its ranged options being used once, maybe twice before being sidelined in favour of Giga Drills.* This is somewhat {{inverted|Trope}} in ''LightNovel/LordMarksmanAndVanadis''. While most of the men do fight in close quarters, the main character Tigre fights exclusively with a bow, and the female Vanadis who surround him fight exclusively with close combat weapons such as swords, spears and staffs.* Inverted in ''Manga/BlackButler'' with Ciel and [[spoiler: Lizzy.]] While Ciel carries a pistol and is an excellent shot, he has asthma and poor stamina. In one battle, he even sprained his ankle wearing high heels while [[spoiler: Lizzy picked up a sword]] and smashed some [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Bizarre Doll's]] heads in. Both are badass, and the only reason why Ciel couldn't help in that scene was because his gun jammed.* Inverted with [[OutlawCouple Liza and Grash]] in ''Anime/ProjectAKo: The Vs.'' Grash is a BadassNormal who uses conventional weapons, but Liza has SuperStrength on par with [[CuteBruiser A-ko]].* ''Manga/BusouRenkin'': The Hayasaka siblings are HalfIdenticalTwins, and the brother uses a sword while the sister a bow; Tokiko, however, being an ActionGirl, fights upfront and personal using a MagicSkirt.* Inverted in ''Manga/ThouShaltNotDie'' where Kuroi generally sit in the back lines and wait for a moment to move in to use his MindRape powers while Mashiro is focused on physical enhancement and therefore a front-line brawler and berserker.* Inverted in ''LightNovel/OokamiSan'' where Ryoko uses her boxing gloves while Ryoshi favors his slingshot. In his case, it's possible it's due to his [[ShrinkingViolet fear of being stared at]]: he can hide and snipe from anywhere while their enemies are focused on the girl right in front of them.* Rhi'a from ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'' is TheGunslinger in a show where every other character fights melee. However, this list of other characters also includes Morte, a girl with a {{BFS}}, which she's [[HairTriggerTemper quick to use]] to smash things (and it usually ''is'' [[BloodlessCarnage smashing, rather than cutting]]). The two of them tend to fight each other quite often, too. The [[Manga/SandsOfDestruction manga]] drops Rhi's guns and normally keeps her a NeutralFemale, but the one time she does join a fight, she uses her [[BreathWeapon Dragon Breath]] for a ranged attack.* All the fighters in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' are female, for [[MagicalGirl obvious reasons]], but only the {{tomboy}}s--Sayaka and Kyouko--use melee weapons (or [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks thrown swords]]). Mami, the TeamMom, uses magical guns and ribbons; Madoka, TheChick, has an EnergyBow [[spoiler:and doesn't directly fight anyone in the [[GroundhogDayLoop final timeline]]]]. Homura is an ActionGirl, not especially feminine or tomboyish, so she uses ''manly'' ranged weapons--non-magical guns and explosives.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* ''Franchise/GIJoe'' pairs sword-wielding Snake-Eyes with Scarlett and her crossbow and throwing stars. Also averted in that Snake isn't above using a gun when the situation calls for it, and Scarlett is such a good hand-to-hand combatant that she was the early team's martial arts instructor.* In ''ComicBook/BodyBags'', Mack "Clownface" Delgado and his daughter Panda. Mack dual wields huge knives, Panda uses various firearms.* In ''Comicbook/{{Preacher}}'', Jesse Custer and his best mate Cassidy beat people up, while Jesse's girlfriend Tulip guns them down.* Inverted with ComicBook/GreenArrow and ComicBook/BlackCanary when they are teamed up.* ''ComicBook/XMen'' provides a sibling example. Comicbook/IllyanaRasputin is a teleporter and sorceress; while her older brother Piotr hits things really, really, ''really'' hard. Although Magik (Illyana) usually needs time to teleport and only has her full complement of sorcery when she's in Limbo, so she ends up relying on slicing things up with her soulsword.* Elsewhere in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse we have the twins Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}}, who punches things very [[SuperSpeed fast]]; and the Comicbook/ScarletWitch, who makes motions with her hands and warps reality.* Also in Comicbook/TheAvengers, we have an inversion with ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and his ex wife ComicBook/{{Mockingbird}}, basically Creator/{{Marvel| Comics}}'s AlternateCompanyEquivalent of Green Arrow and Black Canary. Hawkeye's an archer, the best in the world, in fact; Mockingbird's a fighter who prefers to fight with her battle staves, and is one of the best fighters in the Marvel Universe, at least on the same level as ComicBook/NickFury and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (and that's [[BadassAbnormal before gaining their respective powers]]). Given his past relationships with ComicBook/BlackWidow and ComicBook/SheHulk, and his recent relationship with Spider-Woman, Hawkeye in general seems to have a thing for women who can do the punching while he does the shooting.* [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed and Sue Richards]] when they go in BattleCouple mode: Reed using his RubberMan powers to attack up close (well, for a given value of "close") while Sue blasts things from a distance with her invisible forcefields.* In Comicbook/TheWalkingDead, Andrea quickly becomes an elite sniper whose skills prove invaluable to Rick's group, even though she had no firearms training or experience before the zombie holocaust.* Inverted with ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/HarleyQuinn. The Joker most often uses guns in his crimes, and Harley is best known for her [[DropTheHammer mallet]].[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]* In ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors'', surprisingly, this is ''[[AvertedTrope not]]'' played straight in spite of the themes of [[StayInTheKitchen gender-based roles]]. The women, when they fight, use a fairly diverse arsenal of weapons, such as a gun (Mary), a dagger (Ebony), a sword and a spear (Clarisse), and a club (Annabeth and her opponent). Among the men, most use swords, but also can use an axe ([[Franchise/HarryPotter Draco]]), [[DualWielding a sword and spear]] (Literature/{{Percy Jackson|and the Olympians}}), or a sniper rifle (Grover).* In ''FanFic/{{Horseshoes and Hand Grenades}}'' and its subsequent sidestories, male and female characters fight with diverse weaponry. Since there are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters so many of them]], it can be divided into different ways:** For Kamen Riders, Riderman and Kamen Rider Den-O Rod, Gun and Wing Form technically attack from the distance. Kamen Rider Amazon, Joker, Nadeshiko and Den-O Sword, Axe, and Super Climax Form all worked when they were in close combat.*** And when they weren't in Kamen Rider Form: Chosuke uses his fists to punch the lights out of people and JK had a pair of guns filled with rubber bullets.** The female characters also varied: Yuki, Miu, Yayoi, Rumi and Haruka all use weapons that let them attack up close. Tomoko, Erin and Mari were better suited in the back.** Inverted in ''Month of Sundays'', Abe and Taira wielded swords and axes while Ibuki used a ''kusarigama'' to ensnare his opponents. Teruhiko also fights by shooting spikes and using a sonic howl. Miura later comes in but since he has the power of the Aries Zodiarts, he also steps back to use his sleeping powers on the opponent. Rumi, as stated above, charges toward opponents with a vaulting pole, kicking them in the face for good measure.*** Shingo and Hina Izumi also invert this: Shingo, being a policeman, fires his rifle at the enemy. Hina punches people in the face.* Inverted in ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'', where the guys of the [[BadassCrew Deep]] [[SemperFi Eyes]] are the riflemen while Jane TheSquadette is the melee specialist.* ''Fanfic/SoulEaterTroubledSouls'' is a ''Manga/SoulEater'' fanfic that provides yet another inversion in two [=OCs=], [[SiblingTeam Tsuji and Rowena Ricardsen]]. Tsuji is an archer and works best supporting people from a distance while Rowena has SuperStrength and prefers close-range combat with her oversized sledgehammer. * In ''Fanfic/OliviaGoesWest'' (a crossover between ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective'' and ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail''), this trope is inverted when [[CrossoverShip Fievel and Olivia]] try to rescue Olivia's father from [[spoiler:Jebediah's gold mine]] a second time and are armed by helpful Mousehicans with a tomahawk and a bow. Fievel figures that due to his previous experiences with [[BratsWithSlingshots a slingshot]], he would make better use of the bow, leaving Olivia to pick up the tomahawk.* Taken literally with the [[spoiler:Item Gods]] in ''Fanfic/FailToTheKing''. [[MagicStaff Tav]] and [[BladeOnAStick Phoenix]] seem like the odd ones out, until you remember that -by ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' mechanics- a staff user's normal attack can only be used from one square away, while a spear can attack from two.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* ''Film/BladeTrinity''. ActionGirl Abigail Whistler uses a compound bow while the title character has a sword.* ''Franchise/StarWars'':** Of the main characters in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies, the only ones who use lightsabers are all male. In the original trilogy, Leia is the only one whose blaster bolts never miss. However, there are female lightsaber-wielding Jedi in minor supporting roles.** In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' Anakin wields a lightsaber and Padme uses a blaster. ** Zig-zagged in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'': For the most part, [[InvertedTrope Rey uses a staff and Finn uses a blaster.]] However they don't use those weapons exclusively, since Rey does use a blaster later on and [[spoiler:they both, at different points, use Anakin's lightsaber, with Rey being the last.]] * Inverted in ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'': When [[spoiler: Marty and Dana are trying to get out of the underground facility beneath the cabin, Marty gets his hands on two weapons. He keeps the gun for himself... and gives the knife to Dana. The inversion is somewhat justified in that Dana, who had to either survive or be killed last in order for the ritual to work, was marginally safer - except that neither of them knew that at the time.]]* Inverted in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': Black Widow is a good shot but an even better martial artist, while Hawkeye is good at martial arts but phenomenal with a bow.* Played straight in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' with the Maximoffs (see below). Pietro uses his SuperSpeed for hit-and-run tactics, while Wanda uses telekinesis and energy projection.* Inverted in ''Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman'': When Snow White fights in the climactic battle, she does so with sword and shield while her childhood friend William spends the entire movie fighting with bow and arrow.* In 2004's ''Film/KingArthur'', Guinevere is a Woad warrior-maiden and mostly fights using a bow and arrow, while Arthur fights with swords. She does get in on some melee action during the film's final battle.* ''Film/{{Willow}}'' takes it both ways. Mad Mardigan prefers a sword over all else but is willing and more than able to use a crossbow, and Sorcia's primary weapon is a bow and arrows but she carries a rapier that she is rather skilled with.* Inverted in ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow'', where Cage prefers the shooting weapons while Rita wields a {{BFS}}.* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Katniss is a skilled archer, while Peeta is a wrestler whose main skill is physical strength. The rest of the Tributes fall into this as well with the exception of Marvel, whose skill with thrown spears is his hallmark (and the method behind his only on-screen kill).* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'': While both Max and Furiosa show ability in both melee and ranged combat, Furiosa is definitely [[ImprobableAimingSkills the better shot]] of the two, while Max does more damage against the War Boys close up, including going toe-to-toe with Rictus Erectus and an implication of what he did offscreen to the Bullet Farmer and his mooks using a [[KukrisAreKool kukri]] and a fuel can.* Inverted in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''.-->'''Peter Quill''': (to Gamora) It's just that swords were your thing and guns were mine.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* The whole Shifter Romance subgenre is built in part on this trope, at least for the classic pairing type. The man's a [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent shapeshifter]], giving him close-in strength and fighting power, all playing up how he'll protect her from any threat that gets too close (plus the [[PowerPerversionPotential other advantages]] of having a boyfriend with that much primal strength). The woman is a non-shifter, so that (though she may have to TakeALevelInBadass during the story) she's either a ranged magician, or else a BadassNormal or FightsLikeANormal and gets by with guns.* In ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', Peter and Edmund are supplied with [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], but Susan with a bow. Lucy only gets a dagger as a weapon of last resort, being TheMedic. In the film of ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', Lucy inherits Susan's bow. In ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', it's inverted as males Eustace and Puddleglum get the bows while Jill gets a hunting knife, but played straight again by ''Literature/TheLastBattle'' when Jill gets a bow as Eustace gets a sword.* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has Birgitte Silverbow and Gaidal Cain. And for the SwordAndSorcerer approach, Aes Sedai[[note]]particularly Green Ajah, since they're the combat specialists[[/note]] and their Warders.* District 12 sends one boy and one girl to compete in ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. The boy is a wrestler. The girl is an archer.* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'':** [[BattleCouple Luke and Mara]] often fall into this pattern when fighting together, especially before she becomes a full Jedi, though even after she is still more likely to use her blaster than Luke.** ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'': Luke and Ben tend to fight with their [[LaserBlade lightsabers]], while Vestara and Jaina tend to fight with [[ShockandAwe force lightning]] and from [[OldSchoolDogfight a star-fighter]], respectively. For example, in ''Vortex'', [[spoiler: Vestara throws her lightsaber to an un-armed Luke, then starts shocking Abeloth.]]** It took Leia ''[[Literative/TheThrawnTrilogy five years]]'' after ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' for Luke to build her a lightsaber, and even then only because Han basically bullied them into it. And it was many more years before she was even marginally competent with the thing.* In many fantasy writings, elves and dwarves follow a similar dynamic. If they [[ElvesVersusDwarves spend the novel bickering]], the dwarf will probably call the elf effeminate.* In ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', men are the infantry, women are the pilots. It's explained that women have been discovered to have better reflexes.* Inverted in ''Literature/CodexAlera'' with the BattleCouple of Bernard and Amara- he's an archer, she's a swordswoman.** That said, Amara's fighting style relies on using speed and flight to deliver a single killing strike and get out of combat range again rather than the blow-trading which this trope associates with masculinity. Likewise, while Bernard is a master archer, his specific weapon dramatically emphasizes his brute strength rather than his skill or finesse.* Averted in the first ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' book. When Alanna and Jonathan go against an ancient group of evil spirits, Alanna is the one who uses the sword, while Jon maintains their magic shields. * Inverted in the ''Literature/MediochreQSethSeries''. [[ActionGirl Dhampinella]] is an unarmed hand-to-hand combatant ([[TheBigGuy and a darn good one]]) while [[TheLancer Joseph]] is TheGunslinger by choice and only fights unarmed if he has to. Neither [[NonActionSnarker Mediochre]] nor [[TheChick Charlotte]] fight much, but in the first book Mediochre borrows one of Joseph's guns and Charlotte clubs someone with a rock and occasionally struggles up-close-and-personal with {{Mooks}}.* Variation in ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational'': Owen Zastava Pitt, the main protagonist, uses [[ICallItVera Abomination]], a [[MoreDakka fully-automatic]] [[CoolGuns Saiga-12]] shotgun with a {{bayonet|Ya}} ([[SilverHasMysticPowers silver-inlaid]], of course), while his [[FriendlySniper wife]] and other [[ActionGirl female characters]] tend to use longer-ranged weapons. [[BadassGrandpa Earl Harbinger]], [[spoiler:being a werewolf]], plays it straighter.* Played straight with the main male and female protagonists of ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn''. Simon is a swordsman[[note]]well, he starts out a NonActionGuy, but learns the sword across the trilogy[[/note]] and Princess Miriamele is an archer (and the cover of the last book has both posing with their respective WeaponOfChoice). However, when they travel together during the last book, they ''do'' start training each other in the other's weapon. * In ''Literature/SpiritHunters'' the two guys are samurai while both girls are spellcasters. However Sura is also good with spear and shortsword and Chiri is decent with a pair of kama.* Switched around in ''Literature/{{Relativity}}:'' Overcast (the male) uses a gun while Zephyra is a karate expert.* "Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer" features a downplayed setup at first: The Vitalizer smashes [[MindOverMatter telekinetically]] while Clockpunk attempts shooting with her weak gun. [[spoiler:Subverted during the latter half of the story, since Clockpunk dumps her gun to [[TheBait occupy]] The Vitalizer while the superweapon he's after is moved. Once she has him at her mercy, ''she's'' the only one doing any smashing.]]* Zigzagged in the ''Literature/KateDaniels'' series: most of Kate's friends (and her LoveInterest) are super-strong shapeshifters, but [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in that Kate herself is known as a [[HeroesPreferSwords swordswoman]] who's as deadly as any of them. DoubleSubverted because Kate is actually a MagicKnight with growing magical power, who simply FightsLikeANormal to hide her past.** Played straight in ''Magic Strikes'', where Kate forms a GladiatorGames team with six shifters. Among those other six, the two women are the only gunfighter and mage.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]* ''Franchise/SuperSentai'':** In ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'', [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only girl]] gets a bow, while the others get [[HeroesPreferSwords a sword]], [[AnAxeToGrind an axe]], [[KnifeNut a couple knives]], [[BladeOnAStick a polearm of some sort]], and [[ImprobableWeaponUser a flute that makes trumpet noises and doubles as a knife]]. That last one gets his own sword, too, [[DefectorFromDecadence when he's evil]].** Surprisingly there is only one two-girl series to adhere to this trope with ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger'' giving the girls a slingshot and satellite dish, while the boys get a drill, rod and tomahawk. Every other team has, at best, only one female long-range fighter and one of the boys often has a gun.** Almost all heavy cutting/chopping or melee weapons are given to male Rangers, with a possible exception in ''Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger'', where Yellow's main weapon is a large claw-like slicing device. However, her brother is the one that gets the big heavy axe.** Each of the [[Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger Gokaigers]] wields a SwordAndGun, but they pass them around freely as needed. This has Blue using standard dual swords and Yellow using hers as an EpicFlail. Meanwhile, Pink uses standard dual guns with Green using his surroundings just as often, if not more, than the guns.** Partially gender inverted by ''Series/ResshaSentaiToqger'' where not only does the whole team use each other's weapons regularly, but the girls have a [[DropTheHammer hammer]] and [[WolverineClaws claw]] while one of the boys has a gun.* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Prince Charming's main weapon is a [[HeroesPreferSwords sword]]; Snow White's is a bow and arrow. Most of the other characters also follow this trope, with the female villains being spellcasters while male villain Captain Hook primarily uses his hook (though he does use a gun on [[spoiler:Belle]]), supporting female hero Granny using a crossbow and Emma, having grown up in our world in the modern day, preferring to use a pistol. The only exceptions are Rumplestiltskin (male, spellcaster), Mulan (female, swordfighter), and Red (female, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]]).* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Miles's main weapon? A katana. Charlie's main weapon? A crossbow. Episodes like "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E2ChainedHeat Chained Heat]]" show this trope in action. Even when Charlie ditches the crossbow for a gun by [[Recap/RevolutionS1E10NobodysFaultButMine episode 10]], she's still shooting.* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':** Inverted as with their above comic selves, [[Comicbook/GreenArrow Oliver]] is an archer with ImprobableAimingSkills, while Canary, in season 2, [[spoiler: is a former member of the League Of Assassins]], capable of killing entire rooms of people. Like most inversions, Ollie's just as good at fighting, if not on her level, and she's no slouch with a bow either.** Played straight with Ollie's island friends. Slade is a [[KnifeNut Sword nut]] ASIS combat specialist who likes to get up close with his kills, while Shado is an archer capable of casually hitting targets, and teaches Ollie how to shoot. Like above, she's also a great fighter, and he's a crack shot with rifle or pistol.* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' for some reason gives Arya archery skills that she's specifically stated to lack in [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire the books]], though she still favors the sword.* Inverted in ''Series/{{Justified}}'', in which male deputies Raylan Givens and Tim Gutterson are noted for their skill with guns, while their colleague Rachel Brooks is far more likely to deliver a brutal baton-beating than pull her sidearm.* ''Series/StrangerThings'' plays this trope straight via a subverted inversion. Jonathan plans to use a gun on [[spoiler:the monster]], while Nancy practices strikes with a baseball bat. After they both actually try the gun on old cans, though, Nancy proves to be a superior shot, so they trade weapons.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]* The iconic characters of ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' tend to be notably even-handed with regard to their gender-to-class distribution. Sure, you have a muscular male fighter and a slinky female sorceress, but you also have a male wizard and a female barbarian (who uses a slain giant's shortsword as a ''two-handed greatsword'').* Of the five signature Solars in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the girls are a mage and an archer, while the guys are a brawler the size of a house, a master swordsman, and a kung fu {{Ambadassador}}.* In TabletopGame/TheWitcherGameOfImagination dryads, a OneGenderRace, start with very high ''Shooting'' skill in their {{splat}}, while being the only race with no starting melee skills in said splat.[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]* ''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'' has these archetypes (although the class roles are technically flexible).* ''VideoGame/InfiniteUndiscovery'', Aya has a bow and tiny dagger, Capell a gladius.* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' has a similar arrangement, with a female Rogue who functions best as an archer, and a male warrior and wizard. In the sequel, the two close-quarters combat classes - the Barbarian and the Paladin - are male. The Sorceress is a ranged combatant, and the Amazon specializes in bows, javelins and spears - only the latter is close-quarters. While ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' allows players to choose the gender of any class they play, this trope is reflected in the iconics of each class -- the Barbarian and the Monk, the primary melee fighters among the Nephalem, are male; while the Demon Hunter and the Wizard, the primary ranged attackers, are female, though the Witch Doctor and (addedl ater) Crusader invert this dynamic.* In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' this is averted for human characters, as any hunter can use any weapon, and ''inverted'' for the signature BattleCouple monsters of the first game, the Raths: Male Rathalos is a flying wyvern that keeps watch from the air while its' mate Rathian patrols her territory on the ground. The actual moves used by them reflect this during gameplay, as Rathian is more fixated on using ground-based attacks, usually only taking flight to administer a tail-swat with her poison stingers or to deliver clawing strikes, and saves most of her fireballs for ground-to-ground fire, whereas the Rathalos is much more prone to taking to the sky to blow fireballs, even having a sequence in which he will circle the battlefield from very high up, lobbing a series of fireballs at hunters before returning to closer range.* ''VideoGame/{{Path of Exile}}'' has only classes that fit this trope by default: ranged characters (Witch, Ranger) are female while close-combat characters are male (Marauder, Shadow, Templar, Duelist), with a class capable with any form of combat (Scion) also being female. Due to how character building works, it's entirely feasible to make a Duelist or Shadow into an archer, a Shadow or Templar into a spellcaster, or a Ranger into a close-range swashbuckler. * ''[[VideoGame/WarCraft WarCraft III]]'':** Night Elves have only two melee units, one is male, the other... kinda looks like one (though the species has no sexes and does not reproduce at all). All their ranged units (save one) are female. Their heroes are two male, one each for ranged and melee.*** Rather inverted in spirit if not letter within the background - with the men of the race being asleep for centuries as part of their druidism studies, the Night Elves' military troops were entirely women while men were largely support casters (well, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Druids of the Claw turning into]] {{bears|AreBadNews}} as they see fit notwithstanding) for long until attrition, time and the necessities of MMO character customization relaxed this divide.** Humans, Naga and Undead have only one female unit each, which is ranged. Female heroes for these races are all ranged.* ''Videogame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has no gender restrictions on class; any class can be either gender. However, a demographic study showed that while not all female players are healers, they ''do'' statistically prefer ranged DPS to melee. ** NPC-wise, centaur males are just about always physical fighters, centaur females are just about always casters. Their hunters are also males, though, so centaur guys occasionally do shoot arrows.** Naga also fall into this trope, with the more monstrous looking males exclusively melee fighters, and the more humanoid and elegant females exclusively casters. This may have some lore justification, in that the Naga queen was well known to be a powerful mage, and may not have held men in general in high regard. It's implied the men are far less intelligent than their women, hence brute strength vs study-intensive magic.* In the second ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' game, his girlfriend Sylvia is playable as a secondary character (rather than being a bonus mode as in the first) and uses a gun instead of punches.* Initially played straight in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' where the [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Unlucky Childhood Friend]] uses guns and the RebelliousPrincess uses bows. Then averted by the cavewoman who simply uses GoodOldFisticuffs, [[spoiler: and the male sorcerer whose Tech attacks are all ranged spells (in contrast to the other two guys and the robot on the team.)]]* Played straight in a lot of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, where not everyone can use everything.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': While all the characters's builds are fairly customizable, Maria's starting equipment is a bow while the other core party members, all of which are men, start off with melee weapons. The other female party member, [[{{Pirate}} Leila]], however prefers knives.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': Rosa uses a bow, and is the only character who does so, and all three female characters are mages. Note that Gilbert/Edward/[[MemeticMutation Spoony]] uses a harp.*** Note that Edward and [=Paladin!Cecil=] ''can'' use bows, as can Palom and Porom, but there's usually little reason to equip them thusly. The bow and arrow is actually the most usable weapon in the game, with rods (usable by Rydia, Tellah, Palom and Porom) being a close second. Rosa is the only character restricted to bow use, which in turn makes use of her "Aim" skill.*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' balances this out by adding five new female party members (Luca, Ursula, Harley, Izayoi, and Brina) that use close ranged weapons. However, the latter three are still frail, so it's recommended to put them in the back row, making this a downplayed inversion. ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Fairly open due to the system which allows all characters to use melee and ranged weaponry as well as magic. Early in the story, however, the only characters able to use magic are Terra and Celes, both female.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is an interesting exception: Of the three dedicated missile fighters, Barret and Vincent are male while Yuffie is female, but the hand-to-hand combatist and the dedicated mage, Tifa and Aerith respectively, are female.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' mixes and matches. All of the female antagonists use ranged attacks, and all of the male antagonists have at least one melee attack, but there's one ranged and two melee attackers of each gender among the six main characters, and one melee and two ranged attackers among the three males played in flashbacks.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' continues the trend of exceptions: Two {{White Magician Girl}}s (both of whom can use ranged attacks and summon magic) and a melee fighter round out the females, while the males have a thief, a black mage, a martial arts mercenary, and a knight. Quina's gender is unknown, and even called "s/he" throughout.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' The females are a thief who uses melee attacks, a black mage with a ranged attack, and a standard WhiteMagicianGirl with a (uselessly weak) melee attack, who, like the two before, can use summon magic. The guys have physical attacks, but the ranged fighter is a guy.*** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' how each character (All of whom are female) attacks depends on the dress-sphere (Job class) they use, but the default spheres- warrior, thief, and gunner- include two melee attackers and one ranged.** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', one of the few ''Final Fantasy'' games where everyone can equip anything, Fran, Ashe, and Penelo have stronger magic skills (Penelo having the most MP) than Vaan, Balthier, and Basch, who are stronger with physical attacks (Basch has the least MP).** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' tends towards flipped genders. Sazh and Hope are both males that use ranged weapons (guns and a boomerang, respectively), leaving Snow as the only melee-centric male with his fisticuffs. Fang is a woman who uses a short-range lance, while Vanille uses a fishing rod to attack from afar. Lightning's gunblade can smash or shoot, but she seems to favor the blade part.*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' plays it notably straighter. Both party members have the ability to smash and shoot, as Serah's sword can become a bow and Noel's swords become a javelin. However, the creators specifically gave Serah a bow to "preserve her femininity".** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' gender inverts this in ''Episode Prompto'', [[GuestStarPartyMember Aranea]], uses a BladeOnAStick while Prompto stays back and attacks from a distance with guns.** Women have higher magic stats in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''; however, [[MagikarpPower a male wizard and a female warrior have special classes]], and you probably won't notice it much.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'''s only female race, the Viera, have pretty much all magic and ranged classes, except the Fencer and Assassin. The sequel's Gria have more melee abilities, though one cheap way to win is to have a Gria Hunter fly to the highest point and have her shoot all the enemies.* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' U/3DS has 3 types of customizable ''VideoGame/{{Mii}}'' characters, a Brawler, a Gunner or a Swordsman. In the trophies (and the Fighting Mii Team lineup) both the Swordsman and the Brawler are male Miis, and the Gunner is a female Mii.** Inverted in terms of Smash newcomers [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin and Lucina]]: Lucina is the skilled swordfighter, while Robin prefers spells over swords. And while Robin has a female variant as well (who plays this trope straight with Chrom in her [[LimitBreak Final Smash]]), male Robin is the default gender of the two.* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'' subverts this trope. Resident ActionGirl Ilona apparently used to work as a sniper for Spetsnaz, which would make you think she's more of a long-range fighter in game. However, when we see her in combat, she ''never'' uses a sniper rifle and uses the standard assault rifle loadout of the male characters, and is in fact the only character in the entire game to engage in extended hand-to-hand combat [[spoiler: when she fights Hades]]. * ''Franchise/DragonAge'':** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' plays this mostly straight. You can get up to eight members on your team; two men with huge swords, clubs or axes, one man with a dagger-sword combination, and one man with shield and sword filling the Tank role. Then there are two women who are mages, one who's intended as an archer, and a ''golem'' who punches things to death. [[spoiler: That last one used to be a dwarven woman, but is now rather ambivalent about the whole idea of gender.]] ** However, the ExpansionPack ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' averts this with the two rogue party members: the male rogue Nathaniel is better suited as an archer, and the female rogue Sigrun is meant to duke it out in melee (however, thanks to readily available {{Skill Point Reset}}s in ''Awakening'', you can re-spec them at any time). You also get one female sword and shield warrior, Mhairi. The ''Witch Hunt'' {{DLC}} also pairs a female warrior with a male mage.** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' again averts this with Aveline and Isabela--a brawny "[[StoneWall Guardian]]" warrior and a swashbuckling PirateGirl, respectively. Of the four ranged party members, only one is female (the mage Merrill). Played straight with Hawke's siblings - Carver is a swordsman, Bethany is a mage.** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' has nine companions, three from each class ([[FighterMageThief Warrior, Mage, Rogue]]), and one female character from each set of three, so technically the game averts this since the one female melee fighter (Cassandra) is proportional to the number of male melee fighters, as are the two female ranged fighters (Vivienne, Sera) to the number of male ranged fighters, although it should be noted that Vivienne is a MagicKnight making her more melee focused than her fellow male mages, and inversely, Cole is a rogue who specializes in duel-wielding daggers, although you can equip him with a bow. * [[MightyGlacier Ness]] and [[GlassCannon Paula]] in ''VideoGame/EarthBound''. However, the character whose ''physical'' attack is ranged is [[{{Nerd}} Jeff]].* Averted in ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa'' as any character can use Bows, but Claudia definitely fits this due to her High Battle Point (BP) and BP Regen at the end of the game and the high end techs for Bows use a large amount of BP, she even starts off with a bow.** Her bodyguard, Gray, uses a sword as his default weapon, though. Even moreso if you play as him, since Falcata, his ultimate weapon, is a {{katana|sAreJustBetter}}.* The dual plotlines in ''VideoGame/ThreadsOfFate'' centered around a male and female protagonist, respectively. The girl specialized in long-range magical attacks, although she was also equally competent with her RingsOfDeath.** Ironically enough Mint is very proud of her dropkick and it's her ''first'' resort in cutscenes on anything that she can get near to, even things that she would be better off nuking from a distance.* In ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', Etna's default weapon is a spear (semi-ranged) and she is shown using a gun in cutscenes. However, she's still much more melee-oriented than Flonne, the WhiteMagicianGirl / Archer / [[LeakedExperience Battle Mage]]. The female PlayerMooks have a variety of proficiencies as well depending on job class.** It's inverted for the humans, however: Captain Gordon, '''Defender of Earth!''' uses a gun and Jennifer uses her fists.** In Etna's cameo in ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'', she gets a [[GatlingGood huge-ass minigun]] instead.** Played straight in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'' with bare-knuckled Adell and gun-toting Rozalin.** And in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'', Sapphire comes with a gun, but she also has proficiencies in bow and [[AxCrazy Ax]].** Played straight again in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 5}}'' with fistfighting Killia and gunslinging Seraphina.* The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series does this fairly often. The [=KoRyuOh=] in [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Alpha]], canonically piloted by Brooklyn, is Primarily Melee-oriented while Kushua's [=RyuKoOh=] form uses ranged magic. In [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact2 Compact 2/Impact]], You have the paired team of Kyosuke (Alt Eisen) and Excellen (Weiss Ritter), which is repeated in Alpha 2 with Arado (Wildwurger) and Seolla (Wildfalken). [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsMX MX]] (and [=KoRyu/RyuKo=]Oh) played with the idea by having the combination being a single machine that transforms from one form to the other depending on the situation. In ''MX's'' case, this was reserved for the MidSeasonUpgrade. ** Similarly, entries with a choice of protagonists will often assign the female to the FragileSpeedster Real Robot whereas the male pilots the brawny Super-type. Indeed, Kusuha is pretty much the ONLY female in the series solely associated with super robots (though [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ Z2's]] lack of a super robot original and Esther's nagging implications of importance may lead to her getting one as well).*** She gets a speedy Real in ''Saisei-hen'', But you can choose Crowe's MidSeasonUpgrade, and it does not necessarily have to be the brawler. *** [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment J]] allows the player to subvert this by choosing the machine separately, but given that Touya starts as [[Anime/MazingerZ Kouji Kabuto]]'s classmate, while Calvina begins aboard the ''[[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Nadesico]]'', they're definitely steering you that way. *** Out of the two 'Real Robot' choices, however, Calvina's stats and abilities suit the power-fist using Coustwell, whereas a Real Robot-pilot Toya (by default) has a higher ranged stat and Assail/Rush Attack, a spirit command that is utterly useless for the same machine, but a godsend for the Weissritter-expy Bellzelute.*** ''Original Generation: The Moon Dwellers'' solidifies it by putting Calvina in the Bellzelute and Toya in the Super Robot Granteed.** Subverted in ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier'', where Haken is a gunslinger while Kaguya is the one to swing a big sword. *** [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted]], actually. Many of Haken's attacks are using his melee gun, or at point blank range, and many of Kaguya's attacks deal with swarms of projectiles.* In '7Blades', the player can choose between two playable characters - a guy with a sword (or seven, per the title) or a girl with a gun, which she [[ICallItVera nicknames 'Kittykat']]* Partially invoked by ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe''. The Amazon, Tyris Flare has a long-sword, but is the weakest of the three characters in combat, and is much better with her [[SmartBomb screen-clearing magic attacks]]. The Dwarf, Gilius Thunderhead, and Barbarian Ax Battler have quite a few more direct attacks, but weaker magic.* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' - The Prince wields a large sword and the dagger of time, Farah uses a bow.* Averted in the early ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, played straight in the later games. In the first five games, Link wields BowAndSwordInAccord, and Zelda uses a little magic (more in ''The Ocarina of Time'', less in ''A Link to the Past'', none at all in the others); in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', as well as ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', Princess Zelda fires off Light Arrows to stun the [[BigBad final boss]] so that Link can slash away at it with his sword. This was how it was in [[Series/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow the cartoon version too]], with Zelda regularly getting to fight and favoring a bow when she did.** Enforced again in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', where Linkle, a female version of Link, wields [[GunsAkimbo Crossbows Akimbo]].** Zelda's typical dynamic is given a subtle nod in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', where a Royal Bow can be found hanging on her bedroom wall in Hyrule Castle.* The relationship of Vanguard-Reyvateil as a BattleCouple in the ''VideoGame/ExaPico'' games is this. Male vanguard attacks enemies at close range while female reyvateil shoots magic from afar.** Although it's partially averted with the female vanguards, all of which wield melee weapons: Krusche wields a chainsaw, Amarie a combination between a bow, dual swords and a lyre; and Cocona a hairclip that turns into a bladed battle scepter (''[[VideoGame/ArTonelicoIIMelodyOfMetafalica Ar tonelico II]]'') and a duet of laser tonfas (''[[VideoGame/ArTonelicoQogaKnellOfArCiel Ar tonelico III]]'').* In ''VideoGame/OgreBattle'', the starting male class is a swordsman, while the starting female class is an archer. In general, males are better in the front row, though at the most advanced classes, they get some use in the back row.* Though all three of the playable characters in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' wield Keyblades for melee attacks, Aqua, the lone female, is singled out as being an exceptional mage, and most of her unique moves and abilities are spell-based.* Seen as a tendency in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' in which at one point just under half of the ranged champions were female, while a bit less than a fifth of melee champions were female. Riot has since evened the odds somewhat.* The classes of ''VideoGame/DragonNest'' sort of falls into this. The male classes, Fighter and Cleric, are both pretty up close and physical. Meanwhile, the female classes are Archer and Sorceress, who are both mostly ranged.* ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' has Boom Boom and Pom Pom, [[TheDragon the Dragons]] of the game. Boom Boom attacks with his fists while Pom Pom throws boomerangs.* Your initial party in ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion'' works like this, featuring Garlot the (lance-wielding) knight, Jenon the swordsman, and Siskier the archer. From the point the party begins to expand, though, you accumulate lots of heavy-hitting melee ladies and a couple of ranged-fighter men.* Inverted in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. Your humanoid male companions are a mechanic who uses {{revolvers|AreJustBetter}}, a ColdSniper, and a doctor who uses [[FrickinLaserBeams energy weapons]]. Your humanoid female companions are a mutant assassin who uses a helicopter blade as a {{BFS}}, a scavenger armed with a PowerFist, and a cowgirl with a ShortRangeShotgun. This carries over to the DLC as well; in ''Honest Hearts'', the female companion uses gauntlets while the two males prefer .45 pistols, and the only companion in ''Dead Money'' who has a default weapon other than fists is a male ghoul with a 9mm pistol.** This is also true with ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', where of the male companions include a former raider who uses a [[MoreDakka fully automatic assault rifle]], a ghoul with a ''sniper shotgun'', and an intelligent Super Mutant with a [[GatlingGood Gatling Laser]], (not that any of them have a problem using melee weapons) while the two female companions include a cybernetic Brotherhood of Steel Paladin wielding a [[DropTheHammer Super Sledge]] and a depraved former slave who's default range weapon is pitifully short ranged double barrel shotgun, but is ''very'' proficient in close quarters combat. [[note]] Butch, a hoodlum from Vault 111, doesn't really fit either, as he doesn't seem significantly more proficient in either weapon type. [[/note]] * In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne2'', Max's signature weapon is a Beretta pistol, a fairly short-range, close combat weapon. Mona's signature weapon is a sniper rifle.* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':** You can both play this straight and invert it, depending on Shepard's combat class. For example, played straight with Soldier Male!Shepard and [[SquishyWizard Liara]] as his teammate/love interest, but inverted with [[FoeTossingCharge Vanguard]] Female!Shepard and [[FriendlySniper Garrus]] as her combat partner/love interest.** Inverted with human teammates in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. Ashley is a soldier, Kaidan is a support character better kept to the back ranks.** Also inverted with [[WrenchWench Tali]] and Garrus: Tali carries a shotgun, while her best friend/possible lover Garrus is a sniper. He teases her about it when she says fighting husks is easy because "they just run up to us!" and he counters that he's a sniper and "[she's] the one who likes things at short range."* Inverted in ''VideoGame/ImmortalSouls''. Technically John and Raven both have both ranged and melee attacks to use, but Raven is most commonly depicted in the game's advertising as wielding a large ornate medieval-style sword, while John is more commonly shown dual-wielding typical modern-day revolvers.* Inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} Origin'' - [[SquishyWizard Hugo]] relies mainly on bombarding the enemy with magic missiles from afar. [[ActionGirl Yunica]], lacking any sort of magical ability, gets in close and goes to work with her [[AnAxeToGrind axe]] ([[spoiler: or later on, [[AncestralWeapon her father's greatsword]]]]).* In ''VideoGame/FairyBloomFreesia'', Listine (the second boss) fights with his sword, while his partner Shynie (third boss) uses her agility and a [[FlechetteStorm limitless supply of knives]].* Played straight with the two [[OriginalGeneration original characters]] from ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone''. Kogoro uses blades, Mii uses guns.* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' toys with this. Vyse and Enrique, both male, use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], and Drachma uses a hook hand. Aika, a female, attacks with a boomerang, but Gilder, a male, uses guns. Fina's weapon, Cupil, can either smash or shoot depending on what form he's currently in.* Inverted in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' with the Zuul. Male Zuul are {{Squishy Wizard}}s, powerful psychics but not that tough in CQC. Female Zuul on the other hand are combat monsters capable of fighting PoweredArmor.* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Most characters have a combination of melee and ranged attacks, with the exceptions of Regal, who is a physical attacker (with a single healing spell), Raine and Genis (female WhiteMage and male BlackMage, respectively) and Presea, who despite being a small girl, is the game's resident MightyGlacier.* Inverted in ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2''. Daphnis the WholesomeCrossdresser {{Meido}} shoots. His master Elissa TheOjou carries [[DropTheHammer a huge hammer]].* In ''The Return of Ishtar'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga'', Gil focuses on fighting enemies up close with his sword, while Ki focuses on ranged attacks with her magic skills.* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the male-only mon Gallade specializes in the Attack stat, is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Psychic/Fighting]], and all his damaging moves are melee attacks of the "Physical" type. His counterpart Gardevoir, which can be either gender but looks feminine, was originally Psychic only and later [[RetCon given]] the Fairy-type, specializes in Special Attack and all her damaging moves are ranged and of the "Special" type.* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' hasn't got that many female characters to begin with, but about half of them are primary ranged weapon wielders. The female characters also account for all but one of the games' ranged weapon users in total.* The "cover" image for ''[[http://www.swtor.com/rothc Rise Of The Hutt Cartel]]'', an expansion to ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' depicts a female character DualWielding blaster pistols and a male character sporting a lightsaber and a clenched fist. * ''Franchise/StarOcean''** Inverted in [[Videogame/StarOcean1 the first game]]. Ilia Silvestri is a frontline martial artist while Ronix is an archer and BlackMage.** ''Videogame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' has two variations centered on swordsman Fayt. Sophia plays the sorcerer role in a SwordAndSorcerer combination, while Maria uses a gun.** ''Videogame/StarOceanTheLastHope'' plays this almost painfully straight. [[TheHero Edge]] fights primarily with a sword while [[TheLancer Reimi]] uses a bow almost exclusively.* The ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' franchise usually played this straight. The three females from the first two games were all magic based. ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' subverted it hard, giving us [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Princess]] [[CuteMonsterGirl Sveta]], who has the strongest physical strength of any [[GameBreaker character in the series.]]* Arguably zigzagged (at least in the sense of seeming to avert it, only to play it straight) in '"VideoGame/DeadIsland''. There are four playable heroes, and there's both a melee male & female duo and a ranged male & female duo. However, the male heroes are the blunt weapon specialist and the throwing weapon specialist, whilst the female heroes are the gun specialist and cutting weapon specialist. The gun specialist also specialises in using cutting melee weapons as well.** Then the sequel ''VideoGame/DeadIslandRiptide'' adds one more hero... a male character whose specialty is ''beating zombies to death with his fists''.* Fighting games tend to follow this formula, making their female characters either ranged fighters or {{Fragile Speedster}}s, but Vanessa from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' is a noteworthy aversion as a six-foot-tall female fist-fighter with BoobsOfSteel.* Inverted in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileSilmeria''. [[TheHero Alicia]] uses a sword while [[TheLancer Rufus]] uses a bow.* Inverted more in retrospect than directly in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend''. In the first game [[ContemporaryCaveman Hiyoko]] and [[TeenSuperSpy Yuuya]] can hook up and become a BattleCouple, but they're rarely shown in combat. The second game has Yuuya happily using firearms, while Hiyoko sometimes uses melee weapons - everything from an [[ImprovisedWeapon uprooted mailbox]] to various intentional weapons, though apparently she uses even edged ones like a club - but is entirely adept with fists and feet, too.* In ''VideoGame/ClashOfClans'', the first two basic units are the swordfighting male Barbarians and the female Archers. Averted with the flame shooting Wizards and the close combat Valkyries.* Tends to vary in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' series:** Between the ''{{VideoGame/Persona 2}}'' duo logy, Ulala (a boxer), Eriko (a fencer), and Lisa (kung fu practitioner) fight up close, but all three are also far better suited to magic. The other two women with ranged weapons (Maya and her pink handguns, Yukino and her razorblades) are the same in that regard, and while Eikichi uses a concealed machine gun, his magic is low.** With the exception of the female protagonist added in the [[VideoGameRemake PSP]] version, all of the females of ''{{VideoGame/Persona 3}}'' play this straight to some degree. Yukari plays it the straightest (uses a bow and arrow; has the highest magic stat in the game), and Mitsuru and Aigis are variations of it (Mitsuru uses a rapier, but like Yukari, is far better suited with magic, and Aigis is a physically-inclined robot who uses guns and other artillery). Then there's [[NeutralFemale Fuuka]], who provides support and doesn't fight at all.** ''{{VideoGame/Persona 4}}'' again gives us Yukiko (throws fans and is the resident BlackMage) and Naoto (uses guns and also good with magic), but averts it with Chie, a kung-fu enthusiast whose move pool is mostly physical, albeit fitted towards a CriticalHitClass to contrast Kanji's plain brute force.* While both protagonists of ''Videogame/HuntedTheDemonsForge'' are capable of shooting or melee, Caddoc is a melee specialist while E'lara is the ranged specialist.* Each of the males protagonists in ''[[Videogame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic Might & Magic: Heroes VI]]'''s campaign mode have Might-oriented classes as their defaults, with Sandor being a barbarian, Anton being a knight, and Kiril being a heretic, while the women, Irina and Anastasya, have the magic-oriented Monk and Necromancer classes respectively. Downplayed in that the player has the option of switching their hero's class at the start of the campaign.* While not really a female, "Princess" Kenny in ''Videogame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' uses a bow as her weapon.* {{Inverted|Trope}} with [[BrotherSisterTeam Alex & Ash]] in ''[[VideoGame/HotlineMiami Hotline Miami 2]]''. Alex, the sister, fights up close with a {{chainsaw|Good}}, while Ash, the brother, provides fire support with guns, which he either brings himself or picks up from dead enemies.* In ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'', both of the male party members have no offensive spells and rely on melee attacks for damage, while both female party members are the offensive magicians of the party. Furthering this trope, Jerin is the only member who can use bows, which make up for their low damage by hitting all enemies in a group. Lufia ''can'' attack physically, if you want to let her magical talents go to waste.** In ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'', the only shooting weapons are guns, which can only be used by Artea and Dekar. While Selan's magic is much more useful than her physical attacks, Tia is a dedicated smasher.* In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'', male characters start with higher melee attack power, while females are better at techs and ranged attacks. That said, the difference is so tiny that the practical effect is all but nonexistent.* ''[[VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide Warhammer-The End Times: Vermintide]]'': Played straight, inverted and subverted in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbREAF-wmEg release trailer]]. While all the heroes have both melee and ranged abilities, the male Dwarf Ranger and Empire Soldier dispatch the [[RatMen Skaven]] with melee attacks, while the female Bright Wizard kills them with ranged magic. The male Witch Hunter inverts it, preferring to use guns, while the female Waywatcher subverts it by using both arrows and Elven blades to fight.* Rhi'a from ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'' is TheGunslinger in a game where every other character fights melee. However, this list of other characters also includes Morte, a girl with a {{BFS}}; she's part of a BattleCouple with KnifeNut Kyrie, whose LimitBreak involves throwing several knives. You could almost argue that the two of them are inverting the trope, since he doesn't have to get up close to deal damage, even if throwing isn't precisely shooting.* Inverted in [[VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns Shadowrun: Dragonfall]]: Eiger is TheBigGuy and Glory is all about close combat. Later played straight with Gobbet and Is0bel in ''Shadowrun: Hong Kong''.* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2:'' Inverted when you are playing as Barry and Natalia. Barry is an adult man, and uses guns as his main weapon. Natalia is a little girl, and her only weapon is a brick. She can throw it, but it is more powerful if used close-up for stealth attacks.* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', where just about every hero both shoots and weakly smashes with their quick melees. The only main melee hero in the game is Reinhardt, and even then, there's still Zarya, who would most likely be a smasher if it was the best option for her (rather, she uses a particle cannon that she ''ripped off from a nearby armored truck'').* ''VideoGame/NocturneRebirth'' inverts this with the FinalBoss. [[spoiler:Khaos]] can only attack with spells while [[spoiler:Shylphiel]] is a MagicKnight with a {{BFS}}.* Franchise/MetalGear plays this straight with some of its characters. [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Sniper Wolf]], for instance, is the only female member of Foxhound and the group's crack sniper. There's also [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Quiet]], a sniper who usually covers Snake from a distance while he infiltrates and fights up close. Even [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Skulls]] have the females always as snipers while the males always fight up close.** Averted with [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater the Boss]] whose skill in hand to hand combat is legendary while the crack sniper of her unit is a very old man.* The EliminationPlatformer ''Metal Saver'' plays this absolutely straight with its player characters: the boy (Hanbit) punches and kicks enemies while the girl (Narae) shoots them.* Inverted with the companions in ''FableII'': [[DropTheHammer Sister Hannah]], the Hero of Strength; [[TheGunslinger Reaver]], the Hero of Skill; and [[EthnicMage Garth]], the Hero of Will.* In ''VideoGame/TheBannerSaga'', this comes into play. All the female characters who join your party are archers while the vast majority of the men who join are melee warriors. Rook does both and Eyvind is a sort of exception in that he can cast long ranged spells. He still can club enemies with his staff. The [[TheBannerSaga2 sequel]] both doubles down but also averts it some. It doubles down with the Horseborn race who fit the trope to a T (male horseborn use flails while female horseborn use throwing spears.) It is averted though with the introduction of Folka who is a spear and shield wielding warrior and Zefr who is mostly a support character but who can stab enemies with her spear (though she is so weak that it is generally advisable not to).* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''** Heavily [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in terms of the PlayerCharacter throughout the series, at least until it did away with classes and attributes starting with ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. The starting Skills (including weapon skills) were determined by the race of character, regardless of gender. However, gender did account for differences in the starting ''Attributes'' (Strength, Agility, etc.). Males in the races with gender attribute differences tended to have higher starting physical attributes, making them (initially) better with melee weapons while females tended to have higher starting mental attributes, making them (initially) better spell casters. The difference is small enough to be made up within the first level or two if you so choose, leading to {{Purely Aesthetic Gender}}s.** In the series' backstory, LostOrphanedRoyalty and future Queen of Morrowind, Barenziah, was the [[RulingFamilyMassacre sole survivor of her noble Dunmeri family]] and was placed into foster care with the Imperial loyalist Count and Countess of Darkmoor until she became of age to take over as [[PuppetKing Vassal Queen]]. She Played With the trope, as she wanted to train in combat with the sons of the Count and Countess, but was forbidden. She was given a bow to practice with instead. However, when the adults weren't around, she would spar with the boys and bested them more often than not.* ''VideoGame/MasterOfTheMonsterLair'': Kate can equip bows and staves, while Owen can't. Conversely, Kate can't equip axes or swords, while Owen can. Kate also has far more offensive magic than Owen.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]* Played straight with Jason and Jessica in ''Webcomic/StrawberryDeathCake''.* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': ActionGirl Haley is the order's archer and the [[AmbiguousGender androgynous]], possibly genderqueer Vaarsuvius specializes in ranged magical attacks. The guys are all melee fighters - even the bard, once he gets the Dashing Swordsman PrestigeClass.* Played fairly straight in ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' with the main four group members. The trope was averted for awhile with their fifth member [[TheLadette Pauline]] [[AnAxeToGrind the]] [[BarbarianHero barbarian]], [[spoiler: until she died.]]. Later subverted when Lenny took levels in Ranger and Jordie joined the group as a cleric.* Played straight with the Pre-Scratch Kids in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' (John and Dave use hammers and (1/2)swords, Rose and Jade use needlewands and rifles[[note]]although Rose started out with knitting needles as melee weapons[[/note]]). Completely thrown out the window with the trolls and Post-Scratch Kids.* Inverted in ''Webcomic/TheSenkari'' where both Freija and Rachel smash (With sword and spear respectively) while Val is in charge of a company of archers.* BattleCouple Ace and Freeda in ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'' play this straight when battling a giant chimera. [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/10/24/epiphany/ Freeda whips out a blaster and starts shooting, while Ace tries to...wrestle it]].* ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'' inverts this with the major characters. Jon is a gunslinger and prefers to have as much distance as he can (at one point he fakes fleeing a battle in terror so that he can take up a sniping position) and Ian is a mage. Sarine and Sara are also both mages, but Sarine usually dual-wields short swords while Sara primarily uses her magic for SuperSpeed.* ''Webcomic/GodOfHighSchool'' averts this with the main trio by having all three main characters smash. Mo-Ri and Dae-Wi do it with their fists while Mi-Ra does it with a sword. It's played straight with Priest Axley and Priest Saturn though.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':** Inverted in that Lie Ren, a male fighter, uses 2 sub-machine guns as weapons, where as his partner Nora Valkyrie uses a giant hammer.** Inverted by Roman Torchwick and his female sidekick Neopolitan. Roman usually spends his time shooting at people with his gun-cane (though he can hold his own in close combat), while Neo is an expert hand-to-hand combatant, and her umbrella doesn't seem to have any ranged capabilities at all (unusual in this series).* While ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'' has a correct balance of male smashers and shooters, the ten-ish female characters are a different story : Couette, Elyx and (according to the novels) Kary are healers, Gaea and Roxana magic users, Gaea's reroll, Ivy and [[spoiler:Nazetrîme's real incarnation]] do distance DPS. Saphir can do both as a paladin, but is more BarrierWarrior oriented [[spoiler:until she has to replace Fantöm as her team's tank]]. The only female characters with actual hand-to-hand combat oriented classes are Golgotha, Omega Zellette and Nazetrîme [[spoiler:who's not using her real character]], and the two latter only lasted a handful of episodes in the web series.* Machinima/RedVsBlue inverts it with SiblingTeam North and South Dakota. Big brother North favors the sniper rifle while his sister South prefers to fight up close.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', where [[KungFuWizard benders]] of both genders freely mix short-range and long-range attacks. Non-benders can be either. While [[KnifeNut Mai]] sticks to knife throwing, [[BadassNormal Ty Lee and Suki]] are both melee fighters. Sokka, the main non-bender on the good guy's team, fights at both distances (his signature weapons are a sword and a boomerang).* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', most benders are both close range and mid-range, including Korra. Lin Bei Fong, Jinora and Ikki tend to favour long range attacks, though they do get close and personal when called for it. [[BadassNormal Asami]] fights hand-to-hand. * Averted in an interesting way in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' with the BattleCouple of Robin and Starfire - he's a BadassNormal with an array of ranged and close-combat weapons, and she's a FlyingBrick with both SuperStrength and the ability to fire energy blasts. Both are equally capable of smashing ''or'' shooting. For the rest of the team, Cyborg (who has superstrength and a sonic cannon) also does both, but Beast Boy tends to turn into big, powerful animals to fight at close range, while Raven, though her mystical abilities make her probably the most powerful member of the team, tends to fight from a distance and stay out of direct combat. The Titans pretty much cover the whole spectrum of this trope.* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' the male members of the team are either straight hand-to-hand combatants, or include hand-to-hand with their weaponry. The female members of the team, however, have telekinesis and a bow-and-arrow so they do not need to physically touch their opponents. This is more balanced come season 2, where melee female heroes are introduced to the Team in the 5 year gap. Furthermore, although Artemis is primarily long-range, she has been shown to be quite good in close-hand combat. Her sister definitely prefers it, fighting with swords. * ''WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSmash'' seems to have done this to Comicbook/SheHulk, giving her [[http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/07/17/marvel-animation-comic-con-sdcc-2012-jeph-loeb-avengers-assemble/ "energy-projecting punches"]], while the boys (mostly) just hit things. Subverted in Comicbook/RedHulk's case, since his gimmick is going to be having lots of guns.* In ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' the Winx girls usually blast their opponents with magic while the male Specialists have to fight with swords and other weapons.* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'': Averted with White Tiger who specializes in slicing her foes with her electric claws. Inverted for the Frightful Four; Wizard, The Claw, and Trapster use range attacks, while Thundra is TheBrute who does all the smashing.* Notoriously {{inverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', where [[ActionGirl Turanga Leela]] uses martial arts while [[NonActionGuy Fry]] either uses laser weapons or some form of passive self-defense.* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', the two females of the Brotherhood of the Tofu, Evangelyne and Amalia primarily attack from a range, Evangelyne with her bow and magic arrows, and Amalia with her control over plant life. The males, Ruel, Yugo and Sadlygrove, favor more close combat. SixthRanger Cleophelia subverts this somewhat; she uses sometimes a hand crossbow but also is enthusiastic in hand-to-hand fights.* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' with BattleCouple Steven and Connie - Steven mainly fights [[SupportPartyMember defensively]] and [[StoneWall supportively]], with his attacks being either magical disabling effects or [[ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks throwing his shield]], while Connie uses a {{BFS}}.* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Star is a MagicalGirl princess who mostly uses her staff to blast her opponents, while Marco is a BadassNormal who engages his opponents in hand-to-hand combat with karate.* Inverted on ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Mr. Cat (and Stumpy on occasion) use bazookas and guns, and Kaeloo and Pretty beat up whoever they're fighting.[[/folder]]